Saturday, January 5, 2019

Grammar Police Watch: Bollywood Salon & Spa

This is a potential new series in which I expose spelling and grammar errors I encounter. These aren't minor errors in print (like ones I make here, too). They are errors on a larger, permanent scale. They are inexcusable to me.

This series is dedicated to Roscoe Lindsey, my English teacher in high school and one of the best teachers I ever had. RIP Roscoe.

I wouldn't refer to Roscoe as "the grammar police," but I he definitely promoted using the Queen's English. In this era of social media, spelling and grammar are often sacrificed for speed and space limitations. Roscoe was not happy about this situation.

I am willing to give the benefit of the doubt for errors on social media, but other infractions have no plausible explanation. One such flub greets me every time I go for a bagel at my local deli.

A couple doors down from Kaufman's Bagels in Skokie is the Bollywood Salon & Spa. According to their neon window sign, "Gift certificate availabe."

Technically, there are two miscues on this sign. I think "gift certificate" should be plural. That is a minor, debatable error. I would let it pass if not for the bigger second error.

"Available" is misspelled. The second "l" was left out. At first, I thought it was maybe just a glitch in the neon, but upon closer look, the "l" isn't there.

How is there a spelling mistake on a neon sign? Shouldn't there be a fail safe check system to ensure proper spelling when such a sign is being made? It's not as if "available" is a strange word.

One could argue that the store owners might not be fluent in English. While that might be the case, whoever made the sign should be or should consult with someone who is.

In addition to the error annoying me, I really want to know if/when the mistake was noticed. Did the owners see it, but didn't care? If they saw it, I would assume they got a price break, but is that good enough to leave the sign as is? I don't know the cost of neon signs, but I would rather have an accurate sign. It reflects badly on the store owners (and the sign maker, too) who seemingly do not care enough to have an accurate sign.